Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by 
JulianR 
Hey!
I am quite excited to discuss literally anything about music ("literal" used in the literal, not figurative sense). I don't really know anyone that listens to the breadth and depth of music that I do. So if you disagree with something I say, or just want to talk about music, totally message me. Also if you want recommendations, or have some for me, totally message me or comment. Thank you!
Just as a heads up, the descriptions for these albums could have been written yesterday, or 18 months ago. They may not be totally reflective of my opinions on them now, though they were at one point at least.
Chart of the Day: 2/21/18, 4/23/19
Questions, comments, concerns, and especially recommendations are all heavily encouraged
Thanks
- Julian
- Chart updated: 02/07/2020 06:45
- (Created: 12/14/2016 01:31).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 72 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Music Albums has an average rating of 92 out of 100 (from 106 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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95/100
[First added to this chart: 12/08/2017]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,231
Rank in 2015:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
20
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death is real
and its not for singing about
its not for making into art
when real death enters the house all poetry is dumb
when i, walk in, to the room where you were
and look, into, the emtiness inside
all fails
my knees fail
my arms fail
my brain fails
and i go downstairs catatonic and raw and go outside and you still get mail
a week after you died a package arrived with your name on it that you had ordered in secret for our daughter and collapsed on the front steps i wailed
a backpack for when she goes to school - you were thinking ahead for a future you must have known deep down would not contain you, though you clawed at the cliff you were sliding down towards a emptiness that is bottomless and real
This is the only album that's ever made me really, truly, cry. I don't know how to even compare it to other music. But I just had to put it somewhere. I don't even want to listen to it very much at all. I've only listened twice (over the period of many months) as of this writing, and it's in my top twenty. The lyrics have something, not necessarily catchy, but memorable to them; they have burned themselves onto my consciousness (I was able to write the above from memory a while after said two listens). I feel that if I listen to it too much, the words will lose their power. I would hate for that to happen. [First added to this chart: 07/13/2017]
and its not for singing about
its not for making into art
when real death enters the house all poetry is dumb
when i, walk in, to the room where you were
and look, into, the emtiness inside
all fails
my knees fail
my arms fail
my brain fails
and i go downstairs catatonic and raw and go outside and you still get mail
a week after you died a package arrived with your name on it that you had ordered in secret for our daughter and collapsed on the front steps i wailed
a backpack for when she goes to school - you were thinking ahead for a future you must have known deep down would not contain you, though you clawed at the cliff you were sliding down towards a emptiness that is bottomless and real
This is the only album that's ever made me really, truly, cry. I don't know how to even compare it to other music. But I just had to put it somewhere. I don't even want to listen to it very much at all. I've only listened twice (over the period of many months) as of this writing, and it's in my top twenty. The lyrics have something, not necessarily catchy, but memorable to them; they have burned themselves onto my consciousness (I was able to write the above from memory a while after said two listens). I feel that if I listen to it too much, the words will lose their power. I would hate for that to happen. [First added to this chart: 07/13/2017]
Year of Release:
2017
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,378
Rank in 2017:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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90/100
[First added to this chart: 10/28/2018]
Year of Release:
2002
Appears in:
Rank Score:
993
Rank in 2002:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Spiritual Jazz • Free Jazz
90/100
CA: 8/10
IYLT: Bennie Maupin - The Jewel in the Lotus
This album amazed me the first time I heard it. It had so many layers. I can almost see waves of strings and shakers and multitudes of other instruments. It's the closest thing I've found to Jazz-gaze. (and yes after typing that I went down a google hole for you, and have discovered that actual jazz-gaze probably doesn't exist). But this is as close as it gets. The first half is superb jazz, some of the best I've ever heard. The second half gets a little intense. The music dissociates into waves of noise, sometimes beautiful and sometimes grating. But it all brings it back around to the beautiful beginning motif. And then the one other track, the closing Colors, is just gorgeous. [First added to this chart: 10/22/2017]
90/100
CA: 8/10
IYLT: Bennie Maupin - The Jewel in the Lotus
This album amazed me the first time I heard it. It had so many layers. I can almost see waves of strings and shakers and multitudes of other instruments. It's the closest thing I've found to Jazz-gaze. (and yes after typing that I went down a google hole for you, and have discovered that actual jazz-gaze probably doesn't exist). But this is as close as it gets. The first half is superb jazz, some of the best I've ever heard. The second half gets a little intense. The music dissociates into waves of noise, sometimes beautiful and sometimes grating. But it all brings it back around to the beautiful beginning motif. And then the one other track, the closing Colors, is just gorgeous. [First added to this chart: 10/22/2017]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,684
Rank in 1969:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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90/100
[First added to this chart: 02/12/2018]
Year of Release:
1994
Appears in:
Rank Score:
18,531
Rank in 1994:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Indie Rock • Noise Rock
90/100
Cover Art: 7/10
IYLT: The Breeders - Last Splash; The Flaming Lips - Telepathic Surgery
"Must be a devil between us
Or whores in my head"
This is not an album anyone enjoys. Not on their first listen at least. This is even more true of their earlier releases, but this is the album of theirs that stands out as a masterpiece. The tracks Tame, Dead, and others, do not immediately make the genius of their composition and abrasive, discordant instrumentation clear. But they really are genius. Under the oblique guitar licks and thrashing, off-kilter drumming are excellent songs, warped and distorted and screamed at the top of Francis' lungs with lyrics equally incomprehensible and disturbing, and yet made better because of all that.
This album is the perfection of the art of dissonance. Dissonance is the combination of notes that aren't supposed to sound good together to our western ears (concepts of dissonance vary by culture, its very interesting, but I won't get into that here). But somehow, this band made these dissonant sounds sound thoroughly cohesive in this album.
BM:
Monkey Gone to Heaven: "an' if the devil is six... then godddddddddd is seven!!!" [First added to this chart: 12/13/2016]
90/100
Cover Art: 7/10
IYLT: The Breeders - Last Splash; The Flaming Lips - Telepathic Surgery
"Must be a devil between us
Or whores in my head"
This is not an album anyone enjoys. Not on their first listen at least. This is even more true of their earlier releases, but this is the album of theirs that stands out as a masterpiece. The tracks Tame, Dead, and others, do not immediately make the genius of their composition and abrasive, discordant instrumentation clear. But they really are genius. Under the oblique guitar licks and thrashing, off-kilter drumming are excellent songs, warped and distorted and screamed at the top of Francis' lungs with lyrics equally incomprehensible and disturbing, and yet made better because of all that.
This album is the perfection of the art of dissonance. Dissonance is the combination of notes that aren't supposed to sound good together to our western ears (concepts of dissonance vary by culture, its very interesting, but I won't get into that here). But somehow, this band made these dissonant sounds sound thoroughly cohesive in this album.
BM:
Monkey Gone to Heaven: "an' if the devil is six... then godddddddddd is seven!!!" [First added to this chart: 12/13/2016]
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
37,231
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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90/100
[First added to this chart: 02/21/2018]
Year of Release:
1996
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,262
Rank in 1996:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Folk • Folk-Rock
90/100
CA: 5/10
"In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
'I am leaving, I am leaving'
But the fighter still remains"
A gorgeous collection of brilliant songwriting. Simon is able to write amazing sad and happy songs, like no other. This album also probably has some sentimental value for me. Same with some of the Cat Stevens later on.
BM:
The cannons in the chorus of The Boxer [First added to this chart: 12/13/2016]
90/100
CA: 5/10
"In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
'I am leaving, I am leaving'
But the fighter still remains"
A gorgeous collection of brilliant songwriting. Simon is able to write amazing sad and happy songs, like no other. This album also probably has some sentimental value for me. Same with some of the Cat Stevens later on.
BM:
The cannons in the chorus of The Boxer [First added to this chart: 12/13/2016]
Year of Release:
1970
Appears in:
Rank Score:
13,200
Rank in 1970:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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Post-rock • Experimental
90/100
CA: 8/10 for the one on Spotify
The Flaming Lips have never been a band of conventions. Their music usually follows the line of "If you don't like it, fuck you". Although they had their dip into the mainstream a bit around the turn of the century, it was on their terms, with no concessions. Even their latest release (Oczy Mlody) seems like a conscious effort to be weird and non-mainstream, though I think it ended up kinda flat. Anyway, the story behind this album is that the Flaming Lips recorded a 24 hour long "song", which they apparently had streaming all the time on a website at some point, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. With this 24 hour song, the Lips were forced to abandon any conventions they might have, in order to make their pieces work for far longer periods of time. This pushed them into a realm much closer to post-rock than any of their other work, and it is amazing. They create an ethereal, and deeply sad and emotional album. I love it [First added to this chart: 07/10/2017]
90/100
CA: 8/10 for the one on Spotify
The Flaming Lips have never been a band of conventions. Their music usually follows the line of "If you don't like it, fuck you". Although they had their dip into the mainstream a bit around the turn of the century, it was on their terms, with no concessions. Even their latest release (Oczy Mlody) seems like a conscious effort to be weird and non-mainstream, though I think it ended up kinda flat. Anyway, the story behind this album is that the Flaming Lips recorded a 24 hour long "song", which they apparently had streaming all the time on a website at some point, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. With this 24 hour song, the Lips were forced to abandon any conventions they might have, in order to make their pieces work for far longer periods of time. This pushed them into a realm much closer to post-rock than any of their other work, and it is amazing. They create an ethereal, and deeply sad and emotional album. I love it [First added to this chart: 07/10/2017]
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90/100
[First added to this chart: 09/12/2019]
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,908
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 58. Page 3 of 6
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 13 | 13% | |
| 1970s | 12 | 12% | |
| 1980s | 8 | 8% | |
| 1990s | 25 | 25% | |
| 2000s | 21 | 21% | |
| 2010s | 21 | 21% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| The Flaming Lips | 5 | 5% | |
| Pink Floyd | 4 | 4% | |
| Kendrick Lamar | 3 | 3% | |
| Kanye West | 3 | 3% | |
| Talk Talk | 3 | 3% | |
| Radiohead | 3 | 3% | |
| Bob Dylan | 3 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
58 | 58% | |
 |
26 | 26% | |
 |
5 | 5% | |
 |
5 | 5% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums chart changes
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 1 from 60th to 61st The Glow Pt. 2 by The Microphones |
| Down 1 from 61st to 62nd Souvlaki by Slowdive |
| Down 1 from 62nd to 63rd Yank Crime by Drive Like Jehu |
| New entries |
|---|
 Turn On The Bright Lightsby Interpol |
| In The Flat Field by Bauhaus |
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums ratings
92/100 (from 106 votes)
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 106 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
100/100  | 01/22/2023 22:16 | Rm12398 | | 89/100 |
80/100 | 07/13/2022 22:08 |  Applerill | | 75/100 |
85/100 | 12/10/2020 00:38 | ars2458 | | 78/100 |
100/100 | 06/14/2020 12:47 | BraddlesHendo | | 91/100 |
90/100 | 03/30/2020 09:20 | RomanRelic | | 84/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some charts can have several thousand ratings)
This chart is rated in the top 1% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 92.0/100, a mean average of 92.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 92.6/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 10.3.
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Top 100 Greatest Music Albums comments
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100/100
From Rm12398 01/22/2023 22:17
What a chart!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From Juneof44 04/29/2021 06:58
I really appreciate your effort, a solid chart and i love the rating to the cover
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Foxforce5 02/05/2021 03:26
Thanks for the hard work. I came to your chart after reading your comments about Rubber Soul and Bringing It All Back Home being ‘transitional’ albums and thought to myself ‘there’s someone with a similar pair of ears’!
Anyhow, your comments inspired me to listen to the ‘transitional’ Bon Iver album, and I’ll give Lorde another go. I mean listening is what it’s all about, right?
In answer to your question on Mezzanine, Pet Sounds is better produced, so now you know.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
85/100
From ars2458 12/10/2020 00:38
Wow, I truly love FEFEA and Age of Adz, but I don't have the depth on older stuff. I am going to give those specific albums a chance. I have listened to Bowie and Pink Floyd, but not those albums, so maybe I will hear something different this time.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From Vegetariat 02/03/2020 10:16
Great list with wonderful notes and recommendations. Your description of Loveless and Shoegaze is as touching as it is true. You're right about Touched, haha
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
80/100
From mianfei 12/16/2019 13:05
Although the list is really an odd mix of soul/hip of and progressive rock/post-rock (if I am not mistaken, I did see a similar combination somewhere else on this site on an earlier browse last autumn), there is not that much of real note in the chart.
However, the lack of really unusual albums and a grouping of genres that is merely on the “eccentric” side is certainly compensated for by some impressive notes, which substantially add to the rating.
Some albums you might not have heard that I could attempt to recommend based on your taste:
— ‘Yeti’ by Amon Düül II
— ‘H to He Who Am the Only One’ and ‘Pawn Hearts’ by Van der Graaf Generator
— ‘A Return to the Inner Experience’, ‘This Timeless Turning’ and ‘Moonbathing on Sleeping Leaves’ by Sky Cries Mary
— ‘Gala’ and ‘Spooky’ by Lush
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From bonnequestion 12/04/2019 12:41
Very nice and unique chart, very inspiring! And also, good job on all those comments.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From Timooosterink 12/04/2019 10:20
Really nice chart, maybe you like Gorillaz?
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From 
kynes 12/04/2019 09:07
kynes 12/04/2019 09:07
the final cut getting some deserved appreciation is nice to see! i will always have respect for users who take the time to write significant blurbs for many of the records in their charts
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From pctrooper 11/12/2019 23:34
Not a huge fan of all these albums, but I really like the chart with its descriptions and stuff.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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